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Mid-Cap Dividend Stocks For 2013

It seems like every investor and his sister knows that large-
and mega-cap stocks such as Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:
JNJ
) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE:
PG
) are prodigious dividend payers. And as dividend investing has
become a more prominent theme due to today's anemic U.S. interest
rates, more attention has been paid to small-cap dividend stocks
as well. Some investors have even started taking note of
micro-cap dividend names
.

That does not cover all of the possible cap spectrums. Nor
does the prominence of large and small dividend payers mean
investors should gloss over mid-caps. In fact, stocks with market
values of $2 billion to $10 billion are excellent dividend
payers. Someone just needs to call attention to these stocks.
With that in mind, these mid-cap stocks are worthy of a place on
any income investor's 2013 shopping list.

CorpBanca (NYSE:
BCA
)
CorpBanca's market capitalization of $3.8 billion puts the stock
firmly in mid-cap territory, but the number investors should be
concerned with is 6.3. As in 6.3 percent, the stock's current
dividend yield.

With less than 120 branches, CorpBanca is not Chile's largest
bank, but there are a couple of things worth noting with this
stock. First, Chile is one of, if not the most conservative South
American market. The country, while considered an emerging
market, is pro-growth, friendly to foreign investment and
transparent relative to other developing nations.

Mercury General (NYSE:
MCY
)
Keeping the with theme of
boring being beautiful
, a sleepy insurance stock makes this list. Mercury General's
market cap of just $2.3 billion puts it at the lower end of the
mid-cap spectrum, but that is high enough for the company to have
a larger market value
than some members of the S&P 500
.

More important than superficial metrics is the fact that
Mercury General yields 5.9 percent. And more important than yield
is dividend growth. Mercury General delivers on that front as the
firm's payout has doubled in the past decade.

The primary fundamental risk to this stock at the moment is a
rate increase recently instituted by the company in California,
its largest market. It is too early to tell if there has been
significant customer backlash. If upcoming earnings reports show
customers leaving as a result of the rate hike, Mercury General
would be vulnerable to some downside.

Veolia Environnement (NYSE:
VE
)
France-based Veolia Environnement provides environmental
management services to public authorities, industrial and
commercial services customers, and individuals on an
international basis. Unknown to many U.S. investors is the fact
that the shares yield 6.9 percent and that the dividend is far
higher today than when the company first started paying it in
2001.

The rub with Veolia is easy to spot: Home domicile. France is
the eurozone's second-largest economy. Not only that, but Moody's
Investors Service recently stripped the country of the
prestigious AAA credit rating. France does present risks,
including the vulnerability of French banks and France's
struggles with entitlement and pension spending.

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